Our coverage of Hispanic Heritage month now takes us to the Bronx, where an artist uses her skills to give people of Dominican and Haitian decent opportunities to build relationships through art. Bronx reporter Erin Clarke has the story.
Yelaine Rodriguez was fresh out of Parson's School of Design when she curated her first professional show.
"La Lucha Quiskeya Haiti - One Island. I wanted people of Dominican and Haitian descent to be able to control the space," Rodriguez said.
"And, to tell a different narrative, because our narrative is not always about hatred and separation," said artist Yelaine Rodriguez.
A Dominican who grew up in the Bronx, Rodriguez was profoundly affected by what was happening on the island of Hispaniola - that the Dominican Republic and Haiti share.
The Dominican government was retroactively stripping the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of residents born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents.
"These are people who were born and raised in the Dominican Republic and had no idea what Haiti was about because they never lived there and now they had to leave what they called home," Rodriguez said.
To learn more, Rodriguez began interviewing Dominican and Haitian artists, some she'd met while studying on the island.
Many of them wanted an outlet to discuss the issues, so La Lucha-- which means the struggle -- was born and debuted in February 2014 -- the month Dominicans celebrate independence from Haiti.
"That created a issue people protesting the exhibit and an article written about me in response to that saying that I was anti-patriotic," Rodriguez said.
Still, the exhibit was packed opening night and Rodriguez counts it all a success.
"If they protest you, you know that you're doing your job because at least they're thinking about the subject," Rodriguez said.
Since then, she's hosted La Lucha Two and Living in My Skin -- a collaboration of works by Dominican and Haitian female artists.
Rodriguez's goal is to continue the conversation about the two nations, and work towards change.
She also hopes to expand La Lucha.
"Turn it into a non-profit where I can give artists of Dominican and Haitian descent the opportunity to come to New York and do an artist residency," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is currently planning another edition of La Lucha to be guest-curated and expected to open next year.